Her Reckless Rockstar by Gena Snow

Chapter 3

 

Tristan

 

 

 

I rest on the chaise by the pool before the party guests arrive. Although expected, the weather still delights me. I grew up in this place with perpetual sunshine, but I took it for granted until I started to tour the country with my band. True, every state has its own advantages. Rainy cities like Seattle are beautiful with its greenery, but there isn’t much outdoor fun when it rains. You just end up sitting in the house to admire the scenery outside. So, whenever I’m home, I like to soak up the sun as much as I can.

The party won’t begin for another hour or so. I still have a bit of time.

Max, my manager, arrives first. “So, why are we having a party?”

Because I wanted to invite the hot barmaid to my house. “To celebrate the release of the new album?”

He frowns. “I thought you wanted to wait until Vegas?”

“Well, I decided not to wait that long.” This is not a lie. I am proud of the album. During the months I was at the rehab, I had doubts about the band’s future. And the rest of the year was quite a struggle dealing with mood swings and the fear of relapses. I got through it with the help of my family and friends, including Max. I felt the need to thank them, meeting Avery simply accelerated my plan.

The doorbell rings and Max goes to open the door for me. “It’s probably Dylan. He called earlier and told me he was on his way,” I say to him.

A moment later, Max comes back and says to me, “A hot chick is here, saying she’s the bartender of the day.”

I jump out of my chair right away. “Her name is Avery,” I say and head toward the house.

“Is she single?” Max follows me closely.

That’s a good question. I have no idea, but I’ll find out soon. In the meantime, I say to the asshole, “she is not.”

Damn. I didn’t expect Avery to be so early. I told her to be here at two, didn’t I? It’s not even one yet. I haven’t put on a proper outfit yet, and my hair is messy. I consider going to my bedroom to quickly fix my appearance, but leaving Avery alone with Max, who is a horny dick, is not an option.

My heart skips a beat as soon as I see her in the living room. I haven’t forgotten her for a single moment in the past few days, but obviously, my memory isn’t doing a good job. Avery looks so much more gorgeous in person.

She takes my requirement seriously and is wearing a white ruffle shirt over black pants. Goddamn. She isn’t showing much skin, except her face and hands, but why is she still as sexy as hell? I have an uncontrollable urge to rip the shirt open and feel those perky mounds. They’ve occupied my thoughts since I last saw them. I dreamed about them, too.

“Good morning, Mr. Alton,” she says, blushing a bit from my hungry stares.

She isn’t wearing much makeup and looks younger and more familiar. I swear I know this girl from somewhere. “Morning, Avery. You’re early.”

“I know,” she says. “I’m here to prepare some drinks before the guests arrive.”

So professional. Again, I didn’t expect that.

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Avery,” Max says, not hiding his interest in her. “We appreciate it. Have you had breakfast? There’re some donuts here if you haven’t.”

“Yes, I had breakfast,” Avery says. “Thank you.”

“Have I met you before, Avery? Where do you work?” Max keeps talking.

“I work at Tropic of Cancer, but I don’t think we’ve met,” Avery responds.

“You’re right. I haven’t been there for a while. And if we had met, I wouldn’t have forgotten your pretty face.”

That fucker. How dare he flirt with her right in front of me?

Avery chuckles, not the least bothered by his comment.

“I’m glad you’re here early, Avery. You can get started now,” I interrupt their conversation before Max says something outrageous. “Max, could you vacuum the pool for me? I see some debris inside.”

“Since when have I become your pool guy?” he complains but takes my order anyway.

I turn to Avery, “Follow me, please.”

I walk her to the kitchen and point to the cases of the beverage inside the bar. “Here. Wine, beer, liquors. I ordered them online, and they just got here yesterday. I’ve got sodas in the pantry as well.”

She examines the drinks. “Great. I’ll open a few bottles and pour a few glasses. Have you got limes or lemons?”

“Oops,” I say. “I’ve forgotten those. Don’t worry. I’ll have Max get some from the market. What else do you need?”

“Ice?”

“I’ve got plenty of it.”

“What about glassware?”

“Oh.” I consider as I open the cabinet. “I don’t have that many.” Mostly because every time I had a party, I lost some, and I haven’t refilled the stock.

“Then you need to get some now.”

“Sure. Wait. I could get some paper cups. That would make the cleanup easier.”

She grimaces. “You want me to serve these expensive wines in cheap paper cups?”

I blink. What does she care? Well, she’s got some professional pride, hasn’t she? “Okay, I’ll have him buy glassware. But promise you’ll help me with the cleanup.”

Her mouth opens. “Aren’t there going to be servers or bus boys?”

I shrug. “No. It isn’t a big party. Just the guys in the band and some friends.”

“I see,” she says but doesn’t complain further. “Sure, I’ll do that.”

I give instructions to Max immediately, glad to send him away and get some private moments with Avery.

I’ve ordered a variety of wines and liquors, and Avery opens a bottle of each. 

“You’ve got lots of vodkas. Do you like it? Well, we can make Cosmopolitan if you’ve got cranberry juice.”

“What about Bloody Mary?” I ask. “I’ve got tomato juice.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Do you also have celery, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and horseradish?”

“I can tell Max to get them.”

She shrugs. “Sure.”

I text Max right away and get back a few angry face emojis.

Avery is already at work, making Tequila Sunrise since I’ve got plenty of orange juice in my fridge.

Seeing her busy working at the kitchen island, I have another wild thought. If I had this woman in my kitchen, I would prefer dining at home instead of eating out. Hell, I probably wouldn’t need any food at all. I could feast on her or the sight of her. Damn. My cock twitches, and I can’t help standing closer to her.

She’s focusing on mixing the drink and isn’t paying attention to me. I take the liberty and sniff her hair. Goddamn. She smells like heaven.

She turns sharply to look at me. Her eyes widen with surprise. “What’re you doing?”

“Nothing,” I say, swallowing. “Just you smell good… I mean, the drink smells good. And I’m thirsty.”

“You’re always thirsty,” she says with an eye roll. I detect the blush on her cheeks and smirk. She likes me too, I think.

In no time, she’s filled half-dozen glasses with tasty-looking cocktails.

“Did you go to a bartending school or something?” I ask. “You’re good at it.”

“Thanks,” she says. “They trained me after they haired me at the Tropic.”

“What did you do before that?”

“I was a waitress for many years,” she says.

“Where?”

She shrugs. “Pretty much every restaurant in town. I started working when I was fifteen. Since I couldn’t work full-time anywhere, I had to work at different places.”

“Wow.” I’m impressed, but at the same time, curious about the reason. Why did she have to work full-time at such a young age? “How did you do that? Didn’t you have to go to school?”

“Yes. I worked on weekends and dinner shifts on weekdays,” she says. And then, sensing my curiosity, she adds. “My dad passed away, and my mom wasn’t around much.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I can’t help the pity in my voice.

She waves a hand right away. “It’s okay. I did well. I finished college while working full-time, you know?” she says proudly.

I smile. This girl is feisty and doesn’t need pity. “Awesome. What was your major?”

“English. I wanted to become a school teacher.”

Goddamn. I picture Avery standing in front of the classroom. If I were her student, I would be too busy ogling her to learn anything at all.

I must be doing that at the moment because she glances up and frowns a bit. “Why do you look at me like that? Do I not look like a teacher?”

“No,” I say, my voice turning husky. “I mean. Not the ones I’m familiar with.”

“You mean not someone who also works as a barmaid?” she looks offended.

“That’s not what I mean!” I say in a hurry.

She tilts up her chin. “Just so you know, I did well in college too. I had a 3.9 GPA. If I hadn’t taken Jared Price’s class, I would’ve had 4.0.”

“You took Jared’s class?” I grin. “He’s my brother.”

“Yes. I know. It was a mistake… I mean, he’s a great professor. But, I lost my scholarship because of him.”

‘Yikes,” I say, feeling guilty for what Jared has done. The guy has a terrible reputation and is stubborn. “He’s improved lately, you know? I believe his girlfriend changed him.”

She laughs. “You mean Hailey? I think so too. By the way, she’s my best friend. And she hated him in the beginning!”

“So I’ve heard!” It’s the first time I see her laughing so genuinely, and I like what I see. Before I know it, I’m cupping her face in my hand.

I expect she’ll push me away and get mad, but she doesn’t. She stops laughing and stares at me. “What’re you doing?” she asks in a husky voice.

“I’m just looking at you,” I say. “When I saw you at the bar the other night, I had the feeling I’d been looking for you all my life and you’d been waiting for me there all along.”

Her eyes shimmer, and for a moment, I think she agrees with what I say, but her eye roll tells me otherwise. “Are you composing a song?” she banters as she tries to break away.

I tighten my grasp and pull her to me, covering her lips with mine and expecting her to struggle. But she doesn’t. Instead, she wraps my neck with her arms and kisses me back.

Hot damn. Her lips taste like the best cocktail on earth. My cock rises to full mast, and I can’t help palming her butt cheeks. Shit. Why did I tell her to wear proper clothes? It would’ve been so much better if she wore those shorts that cover only half of her ass.

I don’t get to indulge in the ecstatic moment for long because the doorbell rings and guests are arriving.